help is incorrect; now what?

[me]

Since Microsoft customer noservice won't help me, nor do
they let me place a support call because word mac isn't in
the drop down box, I turn to you.

I want to delete the files in my work menu. The help says
the following, however, my cursor never changed. As a
matter of fact NOTHING happened. How do I get the old
files out of the Work menu?


Remove a document from the Work menu
1. Press z+OPTION+MINUS.
The pointer turns into a black minus sign.
2. On the Work menu, click the document you want to remove.

Gosh, even this submittal form doesn't work. I keep
clicking send and NOTHING happens. I hate this!!

 

[Eric Olson [MSFT]]

When using the Command + Option + Minus combination to turn the cursor into
a minus sign, be sure and use the minus key that is above the regular keys.
As you have discovered, using the Keypad minus key in this situation does
nothing.

Eric Olson [MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Possibly Word is not reading the Minus correctly b/c you are using the minus
from the number pad instead of the one above the P and [ keys?

[I'm sure you were actually hitting command-opt-minus, not the z-opt-minus
that pasted in below from help?]

Or, that command is called ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut. Go into Tools
| Customize, click on Keyboard, find it under All Commands, and see if it
really has that shortcut assigned to it, or re-assign the shortcut.

Or, don't bother with the keyboard part, and drag the icon to any toolbar to
access the command.

Although MS makes it sound as though the newsgroups should be a last resort,
in fact they should be the first.

DM

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Dear "me" (a name would be nice),

I'm copying this email to you because you're having such trouble, but please
respond to the newsgroup and not to me personally.

Your email *did* get sent, as did your first one (assuming that you're also
Larry Wolfe?). You got an answer to the original post from Eric Olson of
Microsoft. He said:

When using the Cmd-Opt-minus combination to turn the cursor into a minus
sign, be sure and use the minus key that is above the regular keys. Do not
use the Keypad minus key.

See if that helps. And in the future, try the following web portal for the
MS newsgroups. It may give you less trouble than the one you were using:
<http://communities2.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx
?guid=366BA05D-4181-BB41-B201-4C83D5F6024C>

Hope this helps.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[gypsy]

I tried both minuses and neither worked.

 

[gypsy]

No, I was using the z since that was what was in the help. However, I tried your suggestion as well with no luck. ref: [I'm sure you were actually hitting command-opt-minus, not the z-opt-minus
that pasted in below from help?]

 

[gypsy]

No, I'm not Larry. I got tired of retyping my name so many times when IE and Safari would not send you my issue. I had to use Netscape and still wasn't sure if it got there, because it left an error after it said it went successfully, it errored after all.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

If your Help is showing a Z when it should be showing that odd four-loop
symbol that denotes the apple or command key, you may have bigger problems
than not being able to delete stuff off the work menu. Usually the Z
just shows up because other programs can't display the four-loop clover.

Did you manage to clear your work menu with one of my other suggestions?

DM

 

[Mary]

As I said before, I tried both minuses and neither worked. Will a MS person acknowledge the misprint in the help that says to use the "z" key in the combination? Is it right? Or is it a typo? I also need something else to try if you have any suggestions. btw Dayo's other suggestion no longer appears so I can't try his suggestions.

 

[Mary/gypsy]

I am staying with you as best I can. I am NOT snappy. You need to understand that I am caught in Microsoft support "hell" as I cannot get support via their faulty on-line system. When I FINALLY got a human, (thanks Beth) she included a link which brought me to you. That has been the only way I can get in here. I have left my computer up for 3 days in fear that after I shutdown, I will never be able to find this group back. What you percieved as snappy was the fact that I am caught in a loop plus their own web browser did not work with their on-line help system. So I could not go forward and notify them of the incorrect instructions in their help window. Their on-line help only worked under Netscape, not Safari and not Internet Explorer. The loop is created when it says my product id is for Mac Word X and errored out, telling me I need to go back and select that instead of "Word" which is what I selected from the dropdown. So I go backwords to select Mac Word X but it doesn't exist in the drop down. So I was stuck all day. Couldn't go forward, couldn't go backwards, and trying all this under 3 different browsers. They need to supply some kind of human to take care of the things the computer errors out on. I had no human to turn to so I left 2 messages with the webmaster/mistress. You would be short with people too, if you were stuck all day and not able to get a response! And the name thing was just something brief I could put in because my fingers were tired of typing in all that info over, and over, and over and the submit button STILL did not work. How was I to know that it would intermittently make it through to this group!

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Well, I was about to get a bit snippy in my reply (I'm a she, btw , but
luckily I hadn't sent it yet... Anyhow, now we understand better.

Two ways to clear your work menu, let's end that frustration:
--The command is called ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut. Go into Tools |
Customize, click on Keyboard, find it under All Commands, and see if it
really has that shortcut assigned to it, or re-assign the shortcut.
--Or, still in Tools | Customize, don't bother with the keyboard part, find
the same command, and drag to any toolbar to access the command by clicking.

Now, other issues:
Where exactly is the Help that says Z-opt-Minus? Is it an online help
window, or is it in the help files that are based on your computer (via
Help | MS Word Help).

Beth responded to you because you posted on this newsgroup, not from MS or
anything, by the way. So you did get through to it somehow.

I'll copy Beth's link again, just in case, but I hope by this point you have
bookmarked it and/or copied it somewhere in your computer, so you don't have
to leave the browser up anymore.
http://communities2.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx
?guid=366BA05D-4181-BB41-B201-4C83D5F6024C

You can also use the Advanced Search in Google Groups to find the
microsoft.public.mac.* newsgroups.

However, if you expect to have more questions about word, the newsgroups are
probably the best way to get quick help with specific questions. Since you
have Office, you also have Entourage--if you use it, it is very easy to
configure for newsreading and will automatically show up linked to Microsoft
News Server, which hosts all these groups. Entourage Help should show you
how.

Note that these boards are not officially run by MS and are designed as
peer-to-peer support, so don't count on acknowledgement from them, even
though MS people do post occasionally, they are under no obligation to do
so.

Hope that helps,
DM

 

[Elliott Roper]

I am staying with you as best I can. I am NOT snappy. You need to understand
that I am caught in Microsoft support "hell" as I cannot get support via
their faulty on-line system. When I FINALLY got a human, (thanks Beth) she
included a link which brought me to you. That has been the only way I can
get in here. I have left my computer up for 3 days in fear that after I
shutdown, I will never be able to find this group back. What you percieved
as snappy was the fact that I am caught in a loop plus their own web browser
did not work with their on-line help system. So I could not go forward and
notify them of the incorrect instructions in their help window. Their on-line
help only worked under Netscape, not Safari and not Internet Explorer. The
loop is created when it says my product id is for Mac Word X and errored out,
telling me I need to go back and select that instead of "Word" which is what
I selected from the dropdown. So I go backwords to select Mac Word X but it
doesn't exist in the drop down. So I was stuck all day. Couldn't go
forward, couldn't go backwards, and trying all this under 3 different
browsers. They need to supply some kind of human to take care of the things
the computer errors out on. I had no human to turn to so I left 2 messages
with the webmaster/mistress. You would be short with people too, if you were
stuck all day and not able to get a response! And the name thing was just
something brief I could put in because my fingers were tired of typing in all
that info over, and over, and over and the submit button STILL did not work.
How was I to know that it would intermittently make it through to this group!

Hang in there M/G. I never bothered with Work menu before, and I agree
that the help is utterly useless, but this seems to be the way out of
your maze of twisty passages all alike.

You need cmd opt minus (all together now - just like you type ctrl alt
del over on the dark side). Your cursor will change into a horizontal
black slab. Use it to drag the work menu open, then click on the file
you want deleting from the work menu.

Is it intuitive? Is it hell! Don't blame me. I would have had 'em all
up against the wall straight after Word 5 went semi-stable if my 20-20
hindsight was in good working order.

The z? Well I think that comes from them nicking stuff from the dark
side, and when it came to writing the mis-named 'help' it stood for
ctrl if you are on Windows and cmd if you are on Mac. Geddit? Of course
you didn't. You are not alone.

See if you can get posting here working properly. We'll entertain as
well as instruct.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word]]

Hi Mary:

Oh, please accept that I understand these endless circles, and I can assure
you that *I* behaved much worse than you do One of my most treasured
items in computing is a flame mail that I got after a particularly virulent
and sulphurous abuse of Microsoft. The email apparently came from Bill
Gates himself (yes, this was a long while ago...) and was an absolute
restatement of the art of how to shrivel someone into insignificance. I
wish I still had it

BBTW: We in here are not from Microsoft, and we are very keenly aware of
the deficiencies of the online help system. Some of the people you are
talking to now were up until two in the morning last week talking to the
designers of that very web page about the problems with it.

As to answering your question, Dayo and Elliott have both given you the
definitive answer, so I won't repeat it. Word maintains a "list of
commands" in its Normal Template and in its Word Settings 10 files.
Sometimes these files get damaged, and when they do, various menus and
keystrokes don't work.

If you simply cannot get things to work, one of the things we often
recommend is to quit Word and delete the Normal template and the Word
Settings 10 files, then empty the trash. When you restart Word, everything
goes back to standard but it should then all work.

Hope this helps


This responds to article

I am staying with you as best I can. I am NOT snappy. You need to understand
that I am caught in Microsoft support "hell" as I cannot get support via their
faulty on-line system. When I FINALLY got a human, (thanks Beth) she included
a link which brought me to you. That has been the only way I can get in here.
I have left my computer up for 3 days in fear that after I shutdown, I will
never be able to find this group back. What you percieved as snappy was the
fact that I am caught in a loop plus their own web browser did not work with
their on-line help system. So I could not go forward and notify them of the
incorrect instructions in their help window. Their on-line help only worked
under Netscape, not Safari and not Internet Explorer. The loop is created
when it says my product id is for Mac Word X and errored out, telling me I
need to go back and select that instead of "Word" which is what I selected
from the dropdown. So I go backwords to select Mac Word X but it doesn't
exist in the drop down. So I was stuck all day. Couldn't go forward,
couldn't go backwards, and trying all this under 3 different browsers. They
need to supply some kind of human to take care of the things the computer
errors out on. I had no human to turn to so I left 2 messages with the
webmaster/mistress. You would be short with people too, if you were stuck all
day and not able to get a response! And the name thing was just something
brief I could put in because my fingers were tired of typing in all that info
over, and over, and over and the submit button STILL did not work. How was I
to know that it would intermittently make it through to this group!

--

Please respond only to the newsgroup to preserve the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]